Phone prefixes in Humboldt, SK

In numbers

In-service prefixes

14

Telephone numbers covered

140,000

Carriers

6

Area codes

3

Provinces and territories

1

First assignment

July 17, 2008

Most recent assignment

July 19, 2022

Humboldt’s share of its area codes

Within area code 306, Humboldt accounts for only 10 of 777 prefixes (1.3%): the code is dominated by Saskatoon and spread over 228 rate centres. Within area code 639, Humboldt accounts for only 3 of 776 prefixes (0.4%): the code is dominated by Regina and spread over 202 rate centres. Within area code 474, Humboldt accounts for only 1 of 88 prefixes (1.1%): the code is dominated by Saskatoon and spread over 70 rate centres.

Who holds these numbers

SaskTel holds the largest share at 7 prefixes, 50.0% of the total, ahead of 5 other carriers. Code by code: in 306, SaskTel leads with 7 of 10 prefixes ahead of 2 others; in 639, Bell Mobility leads with 2 of 3 prefixes ahead of 1 others; TELUS Integrated Communications is the only holder in 474. No carrier holds prefixes in every one of Humboldt’s 3 area codes, while 6 appear in just one.

Wireless and wireline

5 of Humboldt’s 14 prefixes (35.7%) are held by carriers whose registered name marks a wireless business: Bell Mobility, SaskTel Mobility and TELUS Mobility. Wireline prefixes still outnumber them, carried by SaskTel, Access Communications Co-operative Limited and TELUS Integrated Communications. This is a sort by name, not a licence lookup, and a mobile prefix may have been ported to another network since.

How the allocation was built up

Humboldt’s dated assignments run from 2008 to 2022. The busiest period was 2015–2019, when 3 prefixes went to 2 carriers. 8 prefixes (57%) carry no date in the register: these are the historic pre-1999 assignments, the wireline bedrock of the rate centre. Since 2020 another 1 prefixes have been added, so the rate centre is still growing.

Humboldt’s oldest prefixes, the ones the register leaves undated, belong to SaskTel and SaskTel Mobility: these carriers made up the landscape before competition arrived. The first dated assignment went to SaskTel Mobility in 2008. The most recent arrivals are TELUS Integrated Communications (2022), Access Communications Co-operative Limited (2018) and Bell Mobility (2016), a sign that new carriers are still asking for numbers in Humboldt.

Humboldt has only 14 prefixes, or 140,000 numbers: a small rate centre, where the arrival of a single new carrier visibly changes the landscape.

SaskTel leads with 50.0% of the prefixes, but 5 competitors have set up in Humboldt: a market where the incumbent keeps the edge without exclusivity.

Allocation is mature: only 16.7% of the dated prefixes are less than ten years old, most having been handed out in 2015–2019, and 8 prefixes go back to the undated monopoly era. New Humboldt numbers mostly come out of blocks that were assigned long ago.

8 undated in the register.

Dialling a Humboldt number

Humboldt is served by 3 overlaid area codes (306, 639 and 474). A 474 number is no more “out of town” than a 306 one; from abroad, dial +1 and the full ten digits.

The numbering neighbourhood

Humboldt shares area codes 306, 639 and 474 with at least 20 other rate centres, including Regina, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, North Battleford, Yorkton, Swift Current and Moosomin. The largest of them, Regina, holds 161 prefixes in 306, 474 and 639; the smallest on the list, Melville, has just 12.

What a Humboldt number tells you

A number attached to Humboldt tells you that its prefix was issued to a carrier for this rate centre in Saskatchewan, most often SaskTel. It does not tell you where the handset is today: a subscriber may have ported the number to any of the 6 carriers present here or to a VoIP service usable anywhere. Nor does it tell you who is calling: caller ID can be spoofed, and a Saskatchewan area code is easy to borrow to look local.

Reading a register entry for Humboldt: code 306-289 is recorded for SaskTel, so every 306-289-XXXX number (10,000 possible) descends from that assignment. “Humboldt, Saskatchewan” there names a rate centre, not a municipality, and several area codes overlay it.

Every Humboldt prefix

Each row is an in-service central-office code recorded for Humboldt, with its original holder and year of assignment.

Had a call from a Humboldt number?

No clear pattern in reports on these numbers yet. If a call worried you:

1. Call back on a number you trust

   If a caller says they are your bank, the Canada Revenue Agency, a courier or your phone company, hang up and call the organization on the number from its website or your statement, never the number that called you. Caller ID can be faked.

2. Report the fraud

   Report the call or text to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre online or at 1-888-495-8501. If you lost money or gave out personal details, tell your bank first, then your local police.

   Report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre ↗

3. Register on the National Do Not Call List

   Registering a landline or mobile on the National DNCL is free. Registered charities, political parties, newspapers and companies you already do business with may still call.

   National Do Not Call List ↗Who can still call you ↗

4. Forward suspicious texts to 7726

   Forward a scam or spam text to 7726 (SPAM on the keypad). It's free, and your carrier uses it to block the sender. Don't tap links or reply.

   Get Cyber Safe: forwarding to 7726 ↗

Allocated prefixes

All 14 in-service prefixes, grouped by rate centre.

Elsewhere in Saskatchewan